Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Guess that's Austin

When we went to pre-school this morning, it was eighty degrees. When I stepped outside after a church brunch, the air was hanging heavy, the sun hot on our necks. It occurred to me that I ought to have worn sunscreen on my neck if I was going to stand around outside chatting.

We went to the bookstore tonight and as we got out of the car, the wind held the door shut against Zack attempts to open it, a little stinging rain penetrating the lightweight clothing that had seemed too heavy earlier in the day. By the time we left the bookstore, the rain was frozen, pinging on our windshield.

As soon as we got home we set Sammy in his crib, directed Zack to entertain him and bundled ourselves up in the first sweatshirts that were handy with raincoats over top (Zack asked me if I was going to do painting. Guess my sweatshirt was a bit on the shlumpy side?). We ran outside and turned on the lamp we use to keep the garden from freezing on cold nights, revealing four more red tomatoes but also bits of ice sparkling among the tiny shoots of the new lettuce and the swiss chard sprouts. We covered up the garden and the herb bed and the succulents, running back and forth and tracking mud on my not-vacuumed-often-enough-already floor.

We put the kids to bed and put on the news to see what scary severe weather system could be producing frozen stuff falling from the sky. They said the sleet and frozen rain were over for the night, folks, nothing left to see here. I finally convinced myself to do the evening kitchen routine when I heard more sleet, yes? Not so! Not sleet but SNOW. In Austin!

From 80 degrees with tomatoes ripening on the still-producing vine to 30 degrees and snow. Guess that's Austin for you!